10 Best

Drinkwares

of December 2023

If you’re having guests over at a festive meal or party, you clearly want to make a good first impression. Whether you’ll be serving a sit-down meal, or just wine and cheese, it’s essential to have a set of matching drinkware. Nowadays, you have a difficult choice between elegant crystal glassware, and something that you buy just for practicality, that is durable and easy to clean.

We’ll look at some of the more popular drinkware sets, including wine glasses, tumblers, whiskey glasses, and more. There are also numerous features to look for, such as glass that is perfectly clear or tinted, or whether the glass is dishwasher-safe. Whether you’re buying glasses for yourself or as a gift, you’ll also want to select glasses that are sturdy, yet lightweight so that it doesn’t become burdensome to hold the glass for an extended period of time.

Here’s a brief description of the different types of drinkware:

• Wine glasses: You’ll see a number of different wine glasses. There are even different wine glasses for white and red wine, as well as distinct glasses for individual types, to allow the drinker to also appreciate the bouquet of the wine. Wine glasses have a wide bowl and a narrow mouth, and they’ll come either with a stem, or stemless. Maars Drinkware makes a stemless wine glass tumbler, which can hold 12 ounces. If you’re looking for something fancier, Elixir Glassware makes a set of 4 long-stem crystal red wine glasses.

 

Maars Drinkware Stemless Wine Glasses

Elixir Glassware Long-Stem Wine Glasses

• Tumblers: These glasses are characterized by a flat bottom. They can range from 5-30 ounces. When they’re in the 8-12 ounce range, they’re called “highball” glasses, which are intended for serving mixed drinks on ice. Bellaforte offers a set of 4 shatterproof plastic tumblers, each able to hold 18 ounces. Despite being plastic, they’re still quite elegant!

Bellaforte Shatterproof Plastic Tumblers

• Coolers: These are taller 12-ounce or 16-ounce glasses, typically used for water, as well as other cold beverages. An example is the Bormioli Rocco Romantic Cooler Glass Set. They are a set of 4 glasses, in pastel green.

Bormioli Rocco Romantic Cooler Glass Set

• Rocks: These are for serving whiskey “on the rocks”--with ice cubes. They can alternatively be referred to as “lowball” glasses. They’re the same volume as “highball” glasses. But a “rocks” glass is short and stout, while a “highball” glass is long and thin. An example is the Royalty Art Store’s set of 8 whiskey glasses.

Royalty Art Store Whiskey Glasses

• Shakers: There are also shaker sets, consisting of a large base and small upper glass. An example is Piña Barware Stainless Steel Boston Shaker Tin Set. The bottom glass is 28 ounces, while the upper glass is 18 ounces. The top glass fits into the bottom one, to allow you to prepare cocktails.

Piña Barware Stainless Steel Boston Shaker Tin Set

• Plastic lighter than glass: One customer was pleased with the Bellaforte Shatterproof Tritan Plastic Tumblers, as a gift for someone with arthritis. Plastic weighs around half as much as glass, so it is much easier for an arthritic to use.

• Glasses that are free from additives: Check that the glass of the drinkware set is free of lead, and, if it is made from plastic, check that it is BPA and EA-free. BPA stands for “bisphenol A”, which was employed in plastics, and has been implicated in disturbing the endocrine system, and affecting the prostate and brain. EA stands for “estrogenic activity”. Other bisphenols have the effect of mimicking estrogen in the body, which can also wreak havoc in a child’s development, and affect adults as well. It’s best to use products that are both BPA- and EA-free.

• Dishwasher safe: When glassware is touted to be “dishwasher safe”, it means that the glass will not be damaged by the high water temperature inside a dishwasher. Also, when washing very delicate crystal the dishwasher detergent can cause the glass to be cloudy or pitted if the crystal is not dishwasher-safe. If you’re not sure, to be on the safe side, these items should be washed by hand.

• Materials: Many prefer glass drinkware because glass doesn’t affect the taste of the drink inside. That’s important with expensive drinks, such as fine wines or hard liquor. But a drinkware set needn’t be from glass. PG Store makes sets of wine glasses that are actually from dishwasher-safe 18/8 stainless steel! Even though serving wine in a metal glass is usually taboo, PG’s offering is food-grade stainless steel that won’t react with the wine. The outside is coated with a copper-colored lacquer that prevents tarnishing. And they’re more sturdy than traditional glasses.

PG Store Stainless Steel Wine Glasses

• The Maars Bev Stainless Steel Stemless Wine Glass Tumbler comes in a set of two, with each holding 12 ounces. They have double-walled vacuum insulation, which enables them to keep cold drinks cold for up to 9 hours, and hot drinks for as much as 3 hours.

Maars Bev Stainless Steel Stemless Wine Glass Tumbler

• The Libbey Drinkware Swerve 16-piece Tumbler and Rocks Glass Set is an exquisitely stylish set of 8 16.75-ounce cooler glasses and 8 12.25-ounce rocks glasses. Despite the curved shape of the glasses, they are nonetheless stable, durable, and easy to clean.

Libbey Drinkware Swerve 16-piece Tumbler and Rocks Glass Set

• The Royalty Art Kinsley Lowball Whiskey Glasses is an 8-piece set of 10.6-ounce “lowball” glasses. They are made from borosilicate glass, and are typically used for serving whiskey, but are also suitable for beer, bourbon, rye, scotch, wine, and more!

Royalty Art Kinsley Lowball Whiskey Glasses